Improvement in making sugar



DE MANUEL @L BRAFIN. l

Evaporatng Pam.V No. 5,454. Patented Feb. 22, 1848.

F15/.- z. U.

-ing all communication with the tubs.

UNITED STATES PATENT x OFFICE.

cHs. DE MANOEL ANDE. BRAEIN, or MARTINIQUE, wEsr INDIEs',

AssIeNoRs To MANoEL.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAKING 4SUG''l-'l Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,454, dated February 22, 1848.

To all uihom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES DE MANoiL and E. BRAFIN, both of the Island of` Martinique, in the Territory ofthe Kingdom of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in the. Manufacture of Sugar from Cane; and we do hereby declare that thc following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle o r character which distinguishes them from all other things before known, and of the usual manner of making, modifying, andl using the same, reference beinglhad tothe accompanying drawings, inl whichl Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan of the apparatus from below. Fig. 3 is a plan from above. Fig. 4 is a section onv thc line C D throught-he tub. Fig. 5 is a section on the line F- F between the-tubs.

The nature of our invention consists in drying and pulverizing sugarcane and then washing the saecharine mat-ter therefrom, to be manufactured into sugar by evaporation in the ordinary way. The cane is iirst cut by a canecutter in pieces of small size, a-t'ter which it is dried in a proper stove or kiln, and then it is pulverized in a mill, which fits it for the process about to be described. A `series of any number of tubs or vats, f, are placed in line together, eleven of which are shown in the drawings. water, a, is placed, from which a pipe, b, descends to a level with the bottom of the tubs f, and then runs along' horizontally below them all. This pipe bis connected with each of the tubs by a short branch pipe, in each of which there is a stop-cock, d, which, when open, connects the tub with the pipe b.' This pipe is also furnished with a stop-cock, c, for clos- The top of the first tub has a small metal box, i', on its top thatopens into it, from which a pipe, 7c, descends to the bottom of the second tub, where it connects with it after passing the water'through a perforated plate, K, Fig. 4. The second tub connects with the third in a similar way, as do also all the others with those next succeeding, thus connecting the whole. To each of the pipes k there is a stopcock, lso as to cut off either of the tubs from the series.- From the last tub, No. 11, in the drawings a pipe, n, attached to its top iu the same relative position as those before named,

Above these tubs a reservoir oflstop-cocks e and d.

(marked A1,) runs back to the bottom of the rst tub, with which it is connected, and to it is attached a stop-cock, o. Another pipe, m, runs along thetop of the tubs, which connects by short lateral pipes furnished with stopcocks j, byl which either4 of the tubs can be connected or disconnected with it; This pipe leads to the iilterers .e when they are used, and otherwise to the reservoir direct.

' Beside the above-described pipes, each of the tubs is furnished with la trap-door or manhole, p, at the top, and a similar one, p', on the side near thev bottom, through which the pulverizcd cane is received and' discharged. A railway is situated over the tubs, and on it a small car, p', traverses over the tubs, below which ear there is a funnel or spout, s, that serves' to direct the pnlveri-zed ycane from the car p into thc tubs. Another car, t', runs along on a railway just below the bottom of the tubs and in a position to receive the contents of the tubs when they are to be emptied.

The operation o'f this-apparatus is as follows: The car p on the railway above the tubs is filled with the dry pulverized sugar-cane and then brought ovcrthe tub in which'thc cane is to be deposited. The bottom of the car is ihen opened and its contents-fall down through the hopper s into the tub below, which,'when filled with the cane, is closed by the door p, and

after the whole series is thus filled in like manner the water iii the reservoir a is let into the iirst tub through the pipe I) by opening the The water which is first let into the bottom of this tub rises until the tub is lled. It then escapes through the box 'i into the pipe k, which conveys it to the bottom of the second tub partially saturated with the sacchari'ne matter contained in the cane through which it has passed. It then runs through the second tub in the same way, and then through the others till it has reacheda sulieient degree of saturation-say, about 20 or 250 of the areom'eter of Baume-aud which generally reaches 20 at the fifth tub.

water thus satu rated with sugar to pass th rough the pipe-m into one of the two ilterers a' or into the reservoir e' direct. It is then taken to the kettlcs or battery direct and boiled. (This kettle is not shown in the drawings.) A tube of glass-z", is inserted iinto the boX t' The stop-cock j is t-hcn opened and permits thev -ration ascertained, after which it is drawn off through a small faucet, 1/ When the saccharine matter is all drawn from the cane in the first tub, the areometer will descend to zero,`

and it is no longer necessary to let the water pass through it. The cocks d and Z are therefore closed above and below, so as to cut off this tub from the series, and the corresponding' stop-cocks of the second tub are opened, a new tub being also added at the opposite end of the series, and after the second, tub is eX- hausted--that is, cut off-and so on through them all, retaining the same number at all times in the series, and when one tub is eX- hausted and cut olf another is added, through which the water has to pass. JAfter the first tub is exhausted, without suspending the'0peration of saturating the waterthat continues to pass` through the apparatus, it is cut off, as before stated, and the exhausted cane contained therein is removed by opening the door and drawing it outinto the car il', which is on the railway below. The tub isl then again filled from thc car above. Vhen the last tub4 of the series has been reached, the stopcock o is opened and a communication established through the pipe n between `it and the iirst one, which has been filled with the fresh cane, and the operation is thus continued.

The tubs and pipes are made of any suitable material, and of any proportions found most convenient. Their number also is immaterial, if there are enough to give lthe requisite saturation to the water..

Having thus fully described 4our improved process, what we claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

EXtract-ing the sugar from the sugar-cane, substantially in the manner described, by drying and pulverizing the cane and then extract ing the sugar by passing water through it, sub stantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

ons. DE MANGEL E. BRAUN.

Witnesses to the signature of C. de Manol:

AUG'rE. BoU'rAN, '.T. J. GREENQUGH. Witnesses to the signature of E. lil-afin:

J. MAXWELL, Sims MAUREY. 

